So far during the Gaza war, 30 military dogs have died helping the IDF.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

IDF troops in Jabaliya narrowly avoided disaster two weeks ago when Hamas terrorists set a trap by killing a military dog and using its body to lure the soldiers into an ambush.

When the IDF  soldiers were operating in the Jabaliyah refugee camp, they were alerted to the presence of terrorists in a building.

They dispatched an Oketz K-9 unit dog into the building in which the terrorists were hiding, but the dog did not return.

They didn’t hear any sounds indicating distress or barking and sensed something suspicious might be afoot.

The soldiers then sent a drone to an alley close to the building, and it detected the dog, but there was no indication whether it was still alive.

When the soldiers went to get the dog, the dog had mysteriously disappeared.

The troops sent the drone again, and it discovered the dog lying down, apparently dead.

The soldiers then realized that Hamas terrorists had killed the dog, and planted explosives under its body since they knew the IDF would come back to get the dog.

This suspicion was confirmed when they saw wiring from the explosive device coming out of the dog’s body.

The explosives were neutralized, and the dog was buried in the cemetery of Oketz K-9 dogs at the Adam facility near Modi’in.

The Oketz K-9 unit serves a crucial purpose during wartime. Given their keen senses, dogs can often sniff out explosives and alert soldiers to danger.

So far, during the Gaza war, 30 military dogs have died helping the IDF.

Currently, the IDF is purchasing and training more dogs, especially with the threat of a possible war with Hezbollah in the north.

“We are already preparing to use dogs in the north after the extensive experience gained with the dogs in Gaza,” says a senior officer from the Marom Brigade.

“The unit has become a world-class pioneer with its use of dogs during the Gaza war,” he added.

“The dogs can go deep in enemy territory, have the sensitivity to scout out areas, and are adept at special tasks to detect explosives,” the officer concluded.

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“Zili has been a partner in hundreds of Yamam operations in recent years, and this morning he apparently saved the lives of the fighters,” Police Commissioner Shabtai said.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai eulogized Zili, a police dog and a member of the elite Yamam counterterrorism unit. Zili was killed on Tuesday during a gun battle with terrorists in Shechem (Nablus).

IDF forces and Special units operated in the city to capture terrorist Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi and subsequently eliminated him and two others. Several other terrorists were injured.

During the three-hour battle, the IDF began with a “Pressure Cooker” procedure to force the terrorists to surrender, which included small arms fire and, finally, firing shoulder-launched rockets that collapsed the building, killing al-Nabulsi and an accomplice.

Zili was shot to death at the beginning of the operation. He was sent to the building to seek out the terrorists.

“Unfortunately, the nine-year-old Yamam dog Zili, a real fighter who walked on all fours, was killed,” Shabtai stated.

In 2019, Zili was sent into a high-rise building in Ramallah, where he located and took control of the terrorist who murdered the late Ori Ansbacher until the arrival of the human forces, who arrested him.

“Zili has been a partner in hundreds of Yamam operations in recent years, and this morning he apparently saved the lives of the fighters,” Shabtai said.

“We will continue our uncompromising fight against terrorism and will even increase our activity in the field as soon as we detect a threat to the citizens of Israel or the security forces,” he declared.

The IDF and the police operate with specially trained dogs for counterterrorism missions, search and rescue, and other specific purposes.

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Palestinian media published a video showing an IDF dog in the hands of young Palestinians in a village near Hebron.

Palestinians captured a dog belonging to “Oketz”, the IDF’s independent canine special forces unit, on Monday, reported Telegram blogger Abu Ali Express.

Earlier in the day, IDF forces clashed with Palestinian terrorists Monday in the village of Dura, near Hebron, where they were making arrests.

Palestinians report that the IDF was searching for released prisoner Mahmoud Fasfus and that he was injured during the clashes but has not yet been arrested, according to Abu Ali Express.

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It was cleared for publication Thursday afternoon that a security dog prevented a shooting attack on a Jewish community in Judea.

By World Israel News Staff

A dog by the name of Tzayid (Hebrew for ‘hunter’) thwarted a shooting attack in the Israeli town of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion in Judea, Arutz-7 reported.

The IDF cleared the information for publication Thursday afternoon.

The hero dog belonged to the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), a nonprofit that trains and supplies security dogs in vulnerable locations throughout Israel.

“The IDU saves lives in Israel through the use of specially trained service dogs in coordination with the IDF, Israeli police, ZAKA, and the Israeli Fire Department,” its website explains.

According to the IDU, several terrorists coming from the direction of a Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Beit Fair began firing towards Migdal Oz. The town’s security chief, accompanied by Tzayid, immediately went to investigate.

Tzayid chased the assailants, who had tried to flee, but the dog caught up with them. They were then detained until the IDF arrived to take them into custody.

There were no injuries.

“We are proud to work with the chief of security for Migdal Oz, and proud of Tzayid, one of our eldest security dogs,” said an IDF spokesperson.

The IDU stationed Tzayid in Migdal Oz after a Palestinian terrorist murdered 18-year-old yeshiva student Dvir Sorek near Migdal Oz three years ago, the Arutz-7 report said.

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A former Israeli soldier who trained dogs for the IDF, now trains them for security purposes for his company.

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Israeli police dog severely injured in counter-terror op on road to recovery. It’s not the first time that Rambo has defied the odds and survived a serious injury. 

By Benjamin Kerstein, The Algemeiner 

An Israeli police dog who helped locate the Palestinian perpetrator of the deadly October terror attack at the Barkan Industrial Park in the West Bank in October is recovering from injuries sustained during the arrest operation, which ended with the death of the terrorist in an exchange of fire.

Earlier this month, Rambo led a squad from the Israeli Border Police’s special Yamam unit to the terrorist’s location, said the dog’s keeper, referred to as A. by Ynet. “I sent Rambo to reconnoiter,” A. stated, “and after a few seconds there was a burst of gunfire and immediately after another one, we understood that we had found the terrorist, and I understood that Rambo would not return.”

But A. was wrong, and a few seconds later, Rambo emerged. “I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately started evacuating Rambo to the rear, while I was examining a gunshot wound in his neck and bullet fragments in his body,” A. recalled.

Veterinarians operated on Rambo, but chose to leave the 9mm bullet in his neck, as they feared the procedure to remove it might cause more damage than the wound itself.

The weapon with which the terrorist wounded Rambo was the same as that which was used in the Barkan attack.

Two Israelis — Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, 29, and Ziv Hajbi, 35 — were murdered in the Oct. 7 shooting.

Yediot reported this was not the first time Rambo was hurt during operational activities. In 2016, another unit was searching for a terrorist involved in a stabbing attack. Rambo’s then-keeper Y. stated, “A few minutes passed without hearing him, and we started searching the building the way we would search for a soldier with whom we had lost contact. After a search that lasted around a half-hour, he was found in the courtyard of the building badly wounded with deep cuts in his stomach and chest, and a shattered leg. He was conscious and even wagged his tail.

“It wasn’t at all clear that he would survive,” Y. added. “They said to me at the hospital that even if he lived, he couldn’t return to be a soldier in the unit.”

After a year of rehabilitation, however, Rambo was back on the job. He is currently going through rehabilitation again, and the hope is that he will make another complete recovery and return to duty.

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